Pretty Hate Machine - Definition and Overview

Pretty Hate Machine (also known as halo 2) is an album by Nine Inch Nails released in 1989.

Working nights at a recording studio cleaning toilets, Trent Reznor saved up enough to purchase time in a recording session. Playing all of the keyboards, drum machines, guitars, and samplers himself, he was able to record a demo, which he sent to various record companies. Not expecting any real response, Trent was surprised when he received serious offers from many of the companies.

Teaming up with agent John A. Malm, Jr., Reznor signed a deal with TVT Records, a company mainly known for producing novelty and television jingle records. They paired Trent up with well known producers Adrian Sherwood and Flood, as well as some lesser known ones which Reznor would later claim that he hated working with. The album's first single was Down in It, which featured two remixes of the song and the original "skin" mix (which itself was a remix; the original has never been released).

The album was released October 20, 1989, and was a critical success, receiving some radio airplay for the songs "Head Like a Hole", "Terrible Lie", "Sin", and "Down in It." The album also gained popularity through word-of-mouth and developed an underground following. Trent quickly hired a band for touring with The Jesus & Mary Chain, including guitarist Richard Patrick, who would later go on to form his own band, Filter. Their live set was notorious for having the songs become louder and often more harsh and aggressive than the studio versions, and also for destroying their instruments at the end, with Trent using the heel of his boots to strip the keys of expensive keyboards.

The term "pretty hate machine" has also come to be used as a term for angst-filled young people who try hard to look the part of the modern rebellious youth.

Track listing

1. "Head Like a Hole" - 4:59
2. "Terrible Lie" - 4:38
3. "Down in It" - 3:46
4. "Sanctified" - 5:48
5. "Something I Can Never Have" - 5:55
6. "Kinda I Want To" - 4:33
7. "Sin" - 4:06
8. "That's What I Get" - 4:30
9. "The Only Time" - 4:47
10. "Ringfinger" - 5:40

Personnel

• Doug d'Angelis - Engineer
• Tony Dawsey - Mastering
• Flood - Programming, Producer, Engineer
• John Fryer - Producer, Engineer, Mixing
• Kennan Keating - Engineer
• Keith LeBlanc - Producer, Engineer, Remixing, Mixing
• Richard Patrick - Guitar
• Ken Quartarone - Engineer
• Trent Reznor - Arranger, Programming, Producer, Engineer, Digital Editing, Mixing
• Adrian Maxwell Sherwood - Producer, Engineer, Mixing
• Jeffrey Silverthorne - Photography
• Gary Talpas - Cover Design
• Chris Vrenna - Programming, Digital Editing

Chart positions

Album

1990   Pretty Hate Machine     The Billboard 200                      75

Singles

1989   Down in It              Hot Dance Music/Club Play              16
1989	Down in It	 	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales     20
1989	Down in It	 	Modern Rock Tracks	               16
1990	Head Like a Hole	Hot Dance Music/Club Play	       17
1990	Head Like a Hole	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales     34
1990	Head Like a Hole	Modern Rock Tracks	               28
1990	Sin	 	        Hot Dance Music/Club Play	       10
1990	Sin	 	        Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales     13

External Links

• Halo 2 Lyrics (http://www.rexer.com/nin/halo02.html)